New Life
by Saponaria
Summary: A Zam Wesell story. I'm not sure if it's AU or not... PLEASE R&R!
1. Default Chapter

New Life - Prologue.  


* * *

I just bought a Zam Wesell figure! So I 've gotta think of ways of letting her interact with my other figures - which are mostly Original Trilogy chars. Meaning... finding a way to let her live through Ep2. This is a possibility, it'll be explained more as we go along. (WHEEE..... the plot bunnies are biting like crazy!) 

* * *

_Damn those Jedi!_ Zam panted as she frantically ran down the street. _I can handle one, but TWO!_ She didn't look back as she wove in and out and sometimes ran into the lowlife of low-level Coruscant.  
She was glad for her ability to change to human form. It made running so much easier.  
A crash resounded somewhere behind her and she turned her head for a second to see one of the Jedi chasing after her. She saw hate in his face, and gasped, and ran even faster. An angry Jedi was too much!  
A thought entered her mind... something she'd been planning for a long time. She brought her wrist up and punched a couple buttons on a small keypad to activate her planned escape route.  
She looked around and raced into an open club. _Yes!_ She hesitated to think for just half a second on the consequence of her actions before she ripped off a patch on her arm and threw it hastily onto a table, pressed a key on her wrist again, and swallowed.  
"Where..." she took a hasty breath. "Where is a back door?" she shot at a knowledgeable looking creature (well, at least not swaying uncontrollably or staring at a wall).  
"That way." He pointed and she ran toward his point, turned a corner, and - YES! There was a door!  
Letting go of a triumphant grin she threw it open and lunged outside, finding herself in an alleyway. _Finally free! This is my chance._ She glanced backwards, a very slight twinge of regret invading her emotions. But she smirked wryly. _Sorry, Jango... it's been fun! Take good care of your son._ She thought at her employer. Then she looked down the dark murky corridor, affixed her veil, took a breath, and ran.  



	2. New Life Chapter 2

*sniffles* no one reviews my stories! I feel so dejected! Well, ok, that isn't true. Anyhow, the plot bunnies have struck again. Very short chapter, since I'm not too good at writing action.  


* * *

Clink, clink.  
  
Zam played idly with a couple of credits in her hand while slumped over a warm cup of tea. She was bored, and that was that.   
  
Nearly a month of hiding out. Jango hadn't paid her a "visit" since the Naboo Senator deal, so she was still safe. She'd heard he and Boba had died on some obscure planet, but that didn't mean anything. She didn't feel terribly sorry for Jango... he would've killed her. He DID kill her. Well, her decoy.   
  
She snickered. He had no idea she had that little trick up her sleeve! A perfect deception, the parasite she'd trained to impersonate her when shocked to life. So life-like, because it WAS alive. She'd found it in the possession of some reckless smuggler she'd tracked down. It had taken Zam quite awhile to figure out what it was, and how to use it. But when she had, oh what fun!  
  
Zam inserted a long finger into her tea until it turned red and tingled. _No more hassling Fett..._  
  
_But what about Boba?_  
  
Zam's smirk faded and her hand relaxed into her tea. _Yeah, what about Boba?_ She'd always liked the boy. Such a pity he'd been reported dead... He had such a cute face.  
  
She realized her eyes were fogging over and cursed herself and clamped her hand over eyes. "Man... what am I thinking?!" she muttered. "He's just a kid! A little twerp not worth my time!" her voice croaked, and she sipped her cup of tea, which by now was getting a little cold.  
  
She noticed a Rodian at another table staring at her. "Hey... is there something climbing on my head? Cause if there isn't, would you mind your own business?" She shot at the bug-eyed alien.  
  
"Sorry!" it spoke and averted it's eyes.  
  
Zam grumbled and stood up, her robe catching on the edge of her table. She yanked it off with a snarl. Nothing to do but sit here and wait... Wait for her chance to get off of this stupid rock and make sure she wasn't being hunted. Then, and only then, would she dare to start rebuilding her messed-up life.  
  
She walked past a server droid and gave it her two credits.   
  
"Thank you for your partonage." it droned in a metallic, sincere voice.  
  
"Whatever." Zam walked out of the diner, wincing as a blast of frigid air hit her face. She drew her robe closer about her neck and turned a corner and walked down a little street to where she'd been living for the past few weeks. It was a grungy place, but there was nowhere better to hide.  
  
Oh yeah... and she was running low on credits.   
  
Zam had kept her human form, but shed her outfit - it would have been decidedly stupid not to. And while Zam was young, she wasn't stupid. She now fumbled around in her pocket for her key.  
  
"Grehk, where is that n-naughty ke-y!" she said, the cold making her teeth chatter slightly. She stopped and pulled out all the items in her suitpockets. "Trash, trash, trash... Zam, didn't your mother always tell you to clean out your clothes?" she berated herself, then lifted a curious squarish object up to the faint light of a neon sign. "A-ha! There you are!"  
  
"Yes, and there you are!" a voice came from behind her. A voice she thought she knew.  
  
Zam drew in a sharp breath, grabbed her wrist blaster from it's holster, and turned her body around and about to point it at the source of the voice - in time to avoid a blaster bolt.  
  
"Agh!" she growled, and shot at a dark murky form. It avoided her shots easily, seeming to glide in the dark, letting loose several blasts of it's own.  
  
"Oh shit!" she cried and dove for the hulk of a GONK droid, scrambling behind it and lifting her blaster over the edge, then looking around. Ok, so it was too dark to see in this range.  
  
Her appearance changed and now looking up from the droid was a pair of phosphorescent green eyes. Good, now she could see better.  
  
Before her was a lizard creature - a Trandoshan. Yup, it was that idiot what's-his-name daddy of a criminal she'd killed about a year back. Looking for revenge, it looked like.  
  
And it couldn't see her. She saw his head turn stiffly, his blaster held ready, and imagined him growling hatefully.  
  
"You will pay for the death of Grosp! Come out now so I can kill you properly!"  
_  
Geez, what an idiot!_ Zam thought, aimed her blaster, and squeezed the trigger.  
  
The trandoshan gurgled and fell down in a heap of burnt flesh and scales.  
  
Zam got up and fired another shot at the corpse to make sure.  
  
This was not good. Someone she hardly knew had tracked her here. It was time to move again. She'd go to her place, get a couple of essentials, and head out immediately.  
  
She smiled wearily. Oh well... at least she didn't feel cold anymore!  



	3. New Life Chapter 3

WHEEE!!! Plot bunnies! I swear, they're the most dangerous creatures ever! Anyway, on to the next chapter!  


* * *

"AAALLLL ABOOAARD!!!" rang the gruff voice of the captain of the spaceship _First Angel_.  
  
Zam looked up from reading a general-use zine, almost reluctant to stop reading about the escapades of Heina the Twi-lek princess and her secret lover. She grabbed up her bag from it's position on the floor between her feet, stood up to leave, and then hesitated to consider "stealing" the zine.  
_  
Eh, stop it Zam! It's just a stupid story!_ _Remember, you used to hate romances!_ She thought to herself and forced her body to start moving with the flow of passengers. They were all eager to get off Coruscant - which made it more difficult trying to maneuver through their tightly-packed bodies and luggage. Zam wasn't an exception to that rule - and she was pushing and shoving just like all the rest of them.  
  
A Gotal in a hurry slammed into her. "Oh, I'm sorry ma'am. I need to get through!"He nearly slammed her in the face with his bag.  
  
She glared at him. "Does it look to you like we're on different flights?! I need to get through too!" and she squeezed through the throng, muttering "Jerk."  
  
"Um... I'm sorry folks, looks like there's only enough room for 5 more passengers! There's been a... mixup, and you can get a different ship heading out at the information centers. Thanks for waiting." Came the voice of the copilot, it looked like.  
  
Zam cursed. "Oh no! Is it always my luck to either be late, in danger, or fail?" she asked herself sarcastically and shrugged as the crowd gave a new meaning to the words "hurrying up" before giving her own frantic best to get to be one of the lucky passengers.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"My hand!  
  
"You mean foot, don't you?"  
  
"No idiot I walk on my hands!"  
  
"Sorry honey..."  
  
"Move it!"  
  
"WAAHHHH!"  
  
"Oof!"  
  
"AA, my credit notes!"  
  
"GRRRR!"  
  
Such were the sounds all around, and as if they weren't alarming enough, everybody seemed to jolt everyone else around.  
  
Zam ducked the arms of some fat alien and slid on her knees pulling her bag behind her to try to get ahead.  
  
"OOO!" she said involuntarily as something banged into her head, making it smart. She stood up quickly with a hand to her skull and shoved forward, not caring who or what it was.  
  
She could barely see through the crowd the hatch to the ship, and knew that within a moment, she'd have no hope for leaving. _Darn, I paid for this ticket with the last of my savings, and I am NOT going to waste them!_  
  
She turned her body sideways and lunged recklessly forward with a grunt, knocking everybody out of her way and coming within a foot of the captain and pilot.  
  
_Victory!_ she thought as she ignored all the "Hey!"s around her and slapped her ticket into the captain's waiting hand.  
  
He quickly ran it through a machine and nodded to her. "You're cleared to board!" he then sent the pilot in and shouted, "I'M SORRY FOLKS! No more passengers!" and urged Zam up the ramp.  
  
She grinned happily and was about to follow eagerly, when a sight caught her attention.  
  
She put her hand up to the side of the ramp and looked closer at the Insect-like creature huddled at the base of the ramp, clutching the edge of it with thin, shaking fingers.   
  
It was a totally different species than herself, but somehow... Zam was uncharacteristically touched. What could be so wrong for it to lose hope?  
  
Curious and intrigued, she stepped forward and looked down at it. "What's wrong with you?" she asked it.  
  
The insect looked up with a blank stare. "Nothing."  
  
Zam was too curious. "What! Come on, why're you hanging on to the ship?"  
  
After a moment, it let go of the ramp. "I was hoping, that on a ship with a name such as _First Angel_, I could go back to Corellia and see my children. They... So much for names."  
  
Zam stood there, absorbing the intense feelings of despair and pain that were emanating from the creature. _No one should be like this..._  
  
"Here." she offered her hand, hardly thinking. "You get on that ship and go to Corellia."  
  
It took her hand, surprised, and allowed Zam to pull it up. "Why...?"  
  
Zam sighed. "Just head on in there before I change my mind!"  
  
Then she lightly pushed the insect forward into the ship.  
  
It turned and looked at her. "You must be the angel." it said before the hatch closed.  
  
Zam backed off and stared after the ship until it blasted off, thinking.  
  
After it was gone, she realized what she'd done and banged her head against her hand. "GRRRAAAAAA! What were you THINKING! You just gave up your last hope! Oh... mph." she put her hands on her hips and shook her head at herself. "Why can't I ever do anything right?!"  
  
After a while, she sighed and hoisted her bag up over her shoulder. _Angel, huh..._ Well, if she was an angel, it was involuntary for sure. Especially if it did nothing for her. "Guess I've gotta find a way to get more money now..." she whispered to herself.   
  
Her stomach grumbled. Yeah, yeah, and maybe some cheap food.  



	4. New Life Chapter 4

Ok that last chapter was a result of too much Christmas music! Yup, Deck the Halls in October. Hehe... Anyhow, THANK YOU THANK YOU for the reviews! Yous making me feel wanted! Ahem. Have to get control of myself! Enjoy...

* * *

"Very good... do you have any experience in shipping perishable goods?" The slightly-bored interviewer said as she took notes. 

Zam mentally grinned at the question. Hehe, did she indeed! "Yes, I piloted a freighter back and forth between Duro and Coruscant for a number of years before the company went bankrupt." 

The interviewer smiled politely. "Great, well we won't be needing a pilot for such a long way... just someone to handle... um, the task of disposing of the goods that don't make it." 

Zam nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. I just have to be paid a suitable amount." _Garbage hauler... oh how fun.___

"Ok, we've already went through that..." it was clear the interviewer disliked talking about money matters. "So you'll come in tomorrow morning for first shift?" 

"That I will." Zam stood up and offered her hand in a gesture of agreement. 

The interviewer smiled and took it. Zam was a bit disgusted by the woman's weak, limp grip but thought: _Eh, maybe I won't have to deal with this wimp all the time. As soon as I get enough to get a ride offplanet, this deal ends._ "Bye." she said and made her way out of the office and warehouse into the streets of Coruscant to look for some place to spend the night.   


The next morning Zam was waiting outside the warehouse. She'd been here for near an hour already. "Cripes, where is everybody?!" she checked her chrono once again. Yup, an hour. 

"Alright, ten more minutes and I leave." she muttered. Winter in Coruscant was getting to her again. "I can't believe it. These guys must be wierder than I thought." 

_Oh boy, I'm talking to myself again... _It was a habit she'd started off on, and was now very sticky. 

She glanced around her, and having nothing better to do, started counting the bugs buzzing around a pile of refuse until she drifted off into thoughts. 


End file.
